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The week at NOAA was mostly about setting and adjusting fishing seasons and closures, with additional actions covering a bridge-construction marine mammal permit and a pair of species-management changes.

Fishing seasons and closures

  • Ocean salmon season limits set for Washington, Oregon, and California. NOAA published final rules for the 2026 ocean salmon season in federal waters spanning the West Coast. The rule sets annual catch limits, season dates, and management measures for commercial and recreational boats. This tells fishermen exactly what they may catch and when, and it tells the public how many salmon are allowed to be taken.

  • Recreational blueline tilefish season confirmed in the South Atlantic. The 2026 recreational season will run from May 1 through August 30, as scheduled, with the rest of the year closed. NOAA says current catch rates are low enough that an early shutdown is not expected, which lets anglers and charter operators plan ahead.

  • Gulf of Mexico recreational gag season will close October 1, 2026. Gag typically opens September 1 each year. This announcement sets the end date based on pre-set catch limits and recent data, giving recreational anglers and charter operators a firm timeline for the season.

  • Pacific cod directed fishing closed for hook-and-line catcher/processors in the central Gulf of Alaska. The closure comes because the allotted 850 metric tons of cod for the A season has been or is about to be caught. It is a routine catch-control measure that keeps the fishery within its annual limit while letting other groundfish operations continue.

  • Trophy bluefin tuna fishing closed for recreational anglers in the Gulf of America. The closure began at 11:30 p.m. local time on May 21, 2026, and runs through December 31, 2026. It applies to vessels with HMS Angling or Charter/Headboat permits fishing recreationally. This is an inseason management step to stay within internationally agreed limits and avoid larger quota cuts later.

Marine mammal protection during bridge construction

  • Limited marine mammal disturbance allowed for the Interstate Bridge Replacement Project. NOAA issued a final rule and a five-year authorization that permits construction crews to accidentally disturb or injure small numbers of California sea lions, Steller sea lions, and harbor seals along the I-5 corridor between Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. The rule sets noise limits, monitoring duties, and reporting schedules so the project can proceed without violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Changes to species management

  • Keeping mobulid rays is now banned in Atlantic fisheries. NOAA finalized a rule prohibiting fishermen from keeping manta rays and devil rays caught as bycatch in Atlantic fisheries for highly migratory species such as tuna, swordfish, billfish, and sharks. The rule standardizes release procedures to improve survival rates and closes a loophole that could allow the sale of accidentally caught rays.

  • Rainbow runner may be reclassified as a pelagic fish in Puerto Rico. NOAA is proposing to move rainbow runner from the “reef fish” category to the “pelagic fish” category under the Puerto Rico Fishery Management Plan. The proposal, called Amendment 4, matches the species’ open-water habitat and the gear used to catch it. The total allowable catch stays the same, but fishermen in federal waters around Puerto Rico would follow different gear restrictions and seasonal closures under the pelagic list.

This weekly agency digest is generated from federal records (the Federal Register and Congress.gov) and summarized in plain English. It may simplify or omit detail — follow the linked official sources before relying on any item. Part of The Boring Parts.

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